Insulin And How It Can Make You Fat,

• Posted by Natural Living September 4, 2012 - Filed in Health - #insulin  #fat  #health  #blood  #sugar  #body  #sixpack  - 2,236 views

  Insulin And How It Can Make You Fat,
  
  If you want to decrease your body fat while maintaining excellent health, then it's extremely important for you to understand all the functions of the hormone insulin in your body. Insulin is a highly misunderstood hormone, especially how it relates to the storage of body fat. Many people believe that insulin simply helps regulate blood sugar. That is one if its most important functions, but, insulin is far more complex and has numerous other functions.
  
  Insulin is powerful hormone which is created in the pancreas and helps regulate the control and distribution of energy. Insulin levels increase in response to food intake.  When food is ingested, your blood sugar rises rapidly and you secrete insulin to reduce blood sugar by pushing it into the cells where it can be used for energy or stored for future use.
  
  A big problem occurs when you are inactive and don't burn enough calories. One of the keys to getting and staying lean is what I call, "movement sufficiency" not "calorie deficiency." It seems common sense that the more we sit around, the more fat we will gain, and yet too often the weight loss method of choice is diet (calorie deficiency) rather than exercise (movement sufficiency).
  
  Movement is extremely important because (among other benefits), sufficient exercise combined with proper nutrition allows the hormone insulin to function the way it is supposed to function. Simply put, exercise improves insulin efficiency.
  
  Proper nutrition also improves insulin function while improper nutrition can wreak total havoc. On the nutrition side of things, you want to make sure that each of your meals consists of natural, complex carbohydrates, fibrous carbohydrates, high-quality protein and essential fatty acids.
  
  Many people indulge themselves in far too many "displacement foods." Displacement foods are processed, commercial packaged foods such as sports bars, Donuts, Ding Dong's and so on which "displace" or push out, all of the good stuff.  Displacement foods also include most sandwich meats and almost all TV dinner or microwave meals. These foods are often
  loaded with refined sugars like corn syrup, they are stripped of valuable nutrients and they contain harmful chemicals and artificial ingredients.
  
  Insulin is a very important hormone because one of its functions is to aid with growth and repair (muscle growth included). However, insulin can be a double edged sword and can actually store excess blood sugar as adipose tissue when you eat too much sugar and indulge in too many displacement foods.
  
  Frequently eating processed and refined snack foods causes a continual cascade of insulin secretion and can lead to cell insensitivity. An important and positive function of insulin is to take blood sugar and convert it into muscle and liver glycogen, for use later during physical activity.
  
  If you have a "movement deficiency" however, and you sit on your couch, munching away at chips, refined carbs and other displacement foods, your blood sugar rises, insulin is secreted from the pancreas to reduce blood sugar to its normal level, the excess sugar is converted by the liver into glycogen and then sent back out to be stored in the muscles and liver.  The problem is when your muscles and liver are already full of
  glycogen.  Your muscles and liver have a very limited storage capacity, so you get a "spillover effect."  And what do you think happens to that excess sugar spillover after it has been told, "no more room here" by
  your liver and muscles?  You guessed it -- it gets stored as triglycerides or fatty acids.
  
  As your movement deficiency and displacement food munchies continue, this ugly cycle of blood sugar spikes and fat storage repeats itself over and over again.   An even bigger problem lies in the form of fatty
  acids that is stored as: saturated fat : one of the worst types of fat you could put in body.
  
  Now you can realize how dangerous it can be for a "movement deficient" person to go on high carbohydrate diet. (Think about how they fatten up
  cattle before they are slaughtered for your prime rib dinner at Ruth's Chris steakhouse. Now you know! And you may be doing it to your self every single day!)
  
  This brings up the subject of insulin resistance and its rapid rise in the Western world. Insulin insensitivity is when your cell receptors are unable to accept glucose as energy, which leads to the blood sugar roller coaster and subsequent fat gain.
  
  Your become insulin resistant because your cells generally shut down as they get more and more pounded on by excess insulin secretion following
  excessive processed sugar intake. Because of the high blood sugar levels, the pancreas must release more insulin to get the job done. The cycle continues until the cells become highly insulin resistant and eventually cease to operate correctly.
  
  Both men and women suffer from this condition and the end result - among other problems - is massive fat gain. Body fat is highly correlated with insulin insensitivity and with the over consumption of carbohydrates, especially the refined variety.
  
  The same dietary mistakes that lead to insulin resistance can also lead to deficiencies in certain nutrients, minerals, vitamins, such as vitamin B, chromium, magnesium, zinc and especially the important fat, alpha linolenic acid better known as omega-3'. A lack of omega-3 fatty acids in this country is an epidemic. The proper ratio between omega-3's and omega six fatty acids should be one to four. Adding essential fatty
  acids to your diet can reduce carbohydrate cravings thus reducing insulin insensitivity.Alcohol makes the insulin resistance and body fat situation even worse.
  Alcohol is one of the biggest reasons your liver has difficult time breaking down any food substances.  Remember, alcohol is empty calories and contributes to a rapid rise in blood sugar, followed by a rapid decrease in blood sugar called hypoglycemia.  When you are hypoglycemic, this often triggers cravings and you eat more than you normally would or you eat junk displacement foods you normally wouldn't eat.
  
  Coffee and soda are also "no-no's" if you want to improve your cell's sensitivity to insulin, decrease body fat and improve your overall health and wellness.  Excessive consumption of stimulants (caffeine) and
  sugar (in soda or added to coffee) can lead to many adverse effects including insomnia, osteoporosis, nervousness, insulin resistance, decreased mineral absorption and attention deficit syndrome.
  
  If you are guilty of "movement deficiency" and the other dietary and lifestyle mistakes discussed in this article, then your body's ability to handle sugar and utilize insulin properly will be adversely affected as well as your ability to properly metabolize protein and fat. Whether you're trying to lose fat, gain muscle or both, you can see how proudly this can affect your situation. Proper functioning of insulin also affects your immune system, storage of magnesium, blood lipids thyroid
  regulation, osteoporosis, aging and many more areas that would require an entirely separate article to discuss.
  
  To keep your blood sugar and insulin systems functioning at peak efficiency (in order to keep you lean and  healthy), follow the tips you've learned in this article: Focus on exercise (movement sufficiency), rather than strict diet (calorie deficiency), avoid rapid weight fluctuations, drink plenty of water, eat essential fatty acids (such as found in fish), avoid excessive alcohol consumption, and avoid refined and processed displacement foods.

  
  

  
  

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